


Arrow: The Demon's Judgment

by ArlyssTolero



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Gen, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:42:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23581045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArlyssTolero/pseuds/ArlyssTolero
Summary: When Felicity Smoak dares to challenge Ra's al Ghul in the sanctum of his own fortress, the Demon's Head does not give her love advice. Instead, he delivers a swift and crippling punishment that destroys whatever bonds Oliver Queen might have had with this upstart woman. 3x20 fix-it with a patriarchal and medieval League of Assassins. Rated M for content.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	Arrow: The Demon's Judgment

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Arrow.
> 
> A/N: So, 3x20 was a disappointment with regards to how Ra’s reacted to Felicity being her typical bullying, overreaching self. I wrote a one-shot ages ago, The Demon’s Head vs The IT Girl, that dealt with my irritation at the fact the Season 4 panel at SDCC was all about Felicity and Olicity. I’ve decided to give it an update and expand on things. While Felicity no longer dies, I think the punishment Ra’s levies against her in this is more than harsh enough to make up for it.
> 
> This story was also meant as a warning on FFN for Olicity fans who keep reviewing my one-shots complaining about my not pairing Oliver with Felicity. I don’t like Olicity period and will never write it.
> 
> Since said types of readers like to use anonymous commenting to avoid being confronted, I have disabled anonymous comments here on AO3 since that's an option. Sorry to anonymous readers who actually enjoy this story, but I don't feel like giving those people a forum to air their views. I can at least respect those who do so with their account name attached.

After her college boyfriend had been arrested and then killed (or as she recently learned, faked his death to work for the NSA and then become a cyber-terrorist), Felicity Smoak had hidden behind a shield of intellect, numbers, and bumbling social skills. Years working behind a desk with minimal human interaction had given her the ability to keep her emotions in check, and she had rarely lost her temper. That all changed when she found herself increasingly approached by first Oliver Queen, then his stepfather Walter Steele, for 'discreet assignments'. This had eventually led to her becoming part of the Hood's team, having discovered that the contradictory man who was Oliver Queen was, in fact, a homicidal vigilante who just happened to be bleeding out in the back of her car. She had lost her temper for the first time not long after joining his crusade, only to find that while he needed her skills for some of the more complicated cyber endeavors, he could match her with regards to basic security.

Her emotions had become a bigger part of who she was again, mainly because of Oliver. She didn't know what it was about him that made her drop her guard, but she did. But now, with Oliver about to disappear forever due to the machinations of Ra's Al Ghul, they were unknowingly causing her to make some rather rash decisions. She had just finished telling Oliver that what was going on was wrong, and stormed out, her next goal already set in her mind. If she had been thinking rationally, she would not have been making this move, but she wasn't thinking rationally. For the first time in years, she was letting her emotions dictate her actions, something that Oliver would have told her was a mistake (having done the same himself in the past and warning Laurel against doing it not so long ago).

Entering what could be called the Inner Sanctum of the Demon's Head by those so inclined to give ridiculous nicknames to things, Felicity saw the man himself and his right-hand stoolie, Oliver's friend Maseo, in quiet discussion. Ignoring the small part of her that was whispering to be cautious, Felicity, her voice heavy with emotion, said, "I need to talk to you. What is happening here is perverse. What you are doing to Oliver, what you are making him do, I am not going to let it happen."

Ra's and Sarab turned as they heard the woman speaking. Ra's had heard women talk like this before; his own daughter had done so many times when the matter of Sara Lance came up, whether it be about the girl's longing for contact with her family, her abandonment of the League, or her death at the hands of Al Sa-Her. While Ra's could tell that this woman, Felicity Smoak, had a great deal of intelligence and reasoning at her disposal, it disappeared when those she cared about were perceived in danger, or she was grieving. In that regard, it appeared that Felicity Smoak and Ra's' own daughter had at least this in common. A flaw that was to be eradicated, not celebrated as some would claim.

Ra's flicked his eyes between Sarab and Felicity before turning to speak with the woman, who's emotions had clouded her ability to realize just what she had done. Ra's would normally have taken a great deal of time to show this woman exactly why she was wrong to make this move, but he also knew that she was one of the remaining weaknesses in Al Sa-Him, his chosen Heir. No, it was better to deal with this issue fast and decisively. "I can see why Oliver cares for you," Ra's said, a small smile forming as Sarab departed to fetch two of their agents. Felicity didn't even look to see what Sarab was up to. "You have a fire in you. But surely you know that if you reach for the sun, you risk getting burned." Ra’s struck like a serpent, delivering a sharp blow to Felicity’s temple with the hilt of his sword, knocking her out as Sarab arrived with two other assassins in tow. “Take this cow to the chamber of punishment,” Ra’s ordered. “I shall fetch Al Sah-Him, and he will prove his willingness to join the League with her blood.”

The two assassins hooked their arms underneath the unconscious Felicity’s and dragged her away, following Sarab to the chamber where all punishments were levied. Ra’s, meanwhile, went straight to the rooms given to Al Sah-Him. He knew of the connection between Oliver Queen and this woman who dared to talk down to him in his own sanctum. He would take great pleasure in forcing Oliver to sever that bond. If he failed to do so, then Ra’s would kill his sister. If he still failed to do as he was ordered, he would kill John Diggle. If Oliver Queen still failed to do as ordered, Ra’s would have Laurel Lance kidnapped and brought here and threaten her life next. No matter what, Oliver Queen would do as commanded.

A short time later, Ra’s had led Oliver, Malcolm Merlyn, and John Diggle to the chamber of punishment, where Felicity was hanging from chains coming down from the ceiling, naked as the day that she was born. Hot coals were burning inches below her feet, and she was whimpering from the pain of both hanging as she was and the hot coals. “This woman,” Ra’s said quietly, “believes herself untouchable because of your love for her, Oliver Queen. You will sever this connection. You will whip her, twenty times, on both her back and front, ensuring that no man will ever look on her with desire ever again.” Ra’s gestured for Sarab to hand the whip over to Oliver, who took up a position behind Felicity.

“Oliver you can’t be seriously doing this! This is _Felicity_ we’re talking about!” John Diggle shouted, only to earn a back-handed strike across the mouth from one of the assassins standing guard over he and Malcolm.

“If you speak again, we will remove your tongue,” the assassin said in a low growl. Malcolm Merlyn shot a disgusted look at Diggle, as though wondering how anyone could be both a special forces soldier and yet not understand that this world was one in shades of gray. Miss Smoak had thought she could get away with belittling the Demon’s Head the way she belittled and harangued Oliver and Diggle into doing things her way. She would be lucky to come out of this with her ability to speak intact.

Oliver unfurled the whip, burying his emotions with techniques that Talia had taught him in Russia, separating himself from the task at hand. He had to do this to keep his cover and join the League in order to dismantle it from the inside. Nothing could get in the way of that, not even his burgeoning feelings for Felicity Smoak. He knew that once this was done, there would be no chance of their becoming more than friends; he would be lucky if she only hated him. More than likely she would consider him the devil incarnate after all of this.

“Oliver… please…” Felicity whimpered from where she was hanging. Oliver knew Ra’s was watching his actions carefully, and so he delivered the first strike, a stripe of blood appearing on Felicity’s back and eliciting a cry from the woman who had never known such pains in her sheltered life. Oliver buried the initial gut reaction he had to inflicting pain on a friend and focused on the task at hand, delivering blow after blow to Felicity’s back, leaving it a torn, bloody mess by the time the twenty lashes to the back were given.

“Good, Al Sah-Him,” Ra’s said. “Now, twenty lashes to the front.” Oliver circled around Felicity, forcing himself to meet her horrified and betrayed gaze. She knew now that his mission was all that mattered; that was why his hope of a relationship with her had been a pipe dream to begin with. She would never understand, and she would never try to. As Ra’s had told him only weeks ago, Oliver Queen was a man destined to be alone. Oliver began the process all over again, delivering twenty lashes to Felicity’s front and leaving her stomach and breasts torn and bloody, the same as her back. “Well done, Al Sah-Him. Sarab, remove this woman’s tongue from her head. She will not speak to any man with such insolence ever again.”

Sarab moved forward with another assassin as Oliver fell back, tears trickling down his cheeks at what he had been forced to do to maintain his cover and watched silently as Sarab removed Felicity’s tongue. Oliver had known women were a rarity in the League since he had only ever met Nyssa and Sara, and he had a sneaking suspicion that Nyssa had trained Sara herself because no one else would train her. The League, if Ra’s’ actions here today was anything to go by, was both very medieval and patriarchal. He wondered what had possessed Felicity to do something so foolish, but in the end, it didn’t matter. She _had_ done something very foolish and no one would or could protect her from the consequences of her actions.

Felicity was dragged away to recover in the dungeons for the remainder of the group’s stay, and when the time came to leave, every motion was agony for her, a constant reminder of what her arrogance had wrought. She had learned the lesson that everyone eventually learns.

Do not anger the Demon’s Head.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed the story.
> 
> Now, let’s see… as I mentioned in “The Ripple Effect” (which I will be posting to AO3 later on today), there are numerous implications that the League is highly patriarchal and the way Al-Owal acts with Sara indicates the general attitude towards female assassins, which would explain Talia’s departure and her training anyone who comes her way, man or woman. Considering the medieval methods of the League, I felt Ra’s would do something harsh and unforgiving to Felicity for daring to speak the way she did to him, as if he were someone she could bully into doing things her way. 3x20 was a massive disappointment for everyone who wasn’t an Olicity loving half-wit, and it’s why I prefer Gotham’s Ra’s to Arrow’s. At least Gotham’s was allowed to be a ruthless bastard.


End file.
